Irish start-up launches Bitcoin prediction market

Dublin-based start-up Pixode has just launched an online prediction market where users can bet on the outcome of a wide variety of events using the digital currency Bitcoin.

With Predictious, users can ‘buy’ predictions about upcoming events using Bitcoins and make money if they are proved true.

Basically, it’s a Bitcoin stock exchange where users trade predictions about news events. Shares on the Predictious stock market represent a particular outcome and users can set their odds by setting the price. If they no longer have confidence in the outcome they’ve bet on, they can cut their losses by selling it on before the deadline.

Events covered include sports, politics, economics, celebrities and entertainment. So, whether users want to gamble on who will win the Tour de France, how Breaking Bad will end, who will be the next US president, or the sex of the soon-to-arrive royal baby, Predictious gives them a Bitcoin-based platform to do so.

Screenshot from the Predictious website

“Prediction markets are about things ordinary people can relate to, like a sporting event, an election, or the winner of a TV show,” said Flavien Charlon, CEO of Pixode. “People feel more in control when investing in such predictions than they do when investing in complex and sometimes obscure financial products.”

Because Bitcoin is a decentralised digital crypto-currency that cannot be controlled by a single entity, accounts can’t be frozen and there are close to zero transaction fees. This is why Pixode believe it to be the perfect currency for a service like Predictious.

Predictious is operated from Ireland by Pixode but users can come from anywhere in the world to trade in the anonymous currency.